Archive for the ‘Southampton airport’ CategoryThe UK Border Agency is warning that travellers passing through UK ports could face possible delays and disruption due to strike action by the Public and Commercial Services Union (PCS). The strike action is taking place on Monday 8 March and Tuesday 9 March. Lin Homer, the Border Agency’s Chief Executive, said: ‘We are disappointed that PCS members have voted in favour of industrial action. It means that the travelling public are likely to suffer disruption and delays at border control as a result of this two-day action. ‘We have robust plans in place to ensure that the essential work of the UK Border Agency is maintained and the border remains secure. UK border security will not be compromised by this industrial action. ‘We expect that people travelling into the country may experience some delays at border control, but we will work hard to keep these to a minimum and hope that passengers will welcome the commitment of those staff who will be working despite the strike action to ensure they are seen as quickly as possible. BAA is advising passengers to have their travel documents, including passports, ready and to use automatic e-passport gates where available. Southampton Airport’s longest serving operator is celebrating 40 years of flights from the airport. Aurigny Air Services began flights between Alderney and Southampton in 1970 and since then has flown 1.1 million passengers on more than 100,000 flights between Alderney and Southampton. Malcolm Hart, Managing Director of Aurigny Air Services, commented: “For 40 years Southampton has played a vital part in connecting Channel Islanders with the mainland and we are extremely proud to be its longest serving airline. To date, Aurigny has made almost 106,000 trips between Southampton and Alderney, covering around 9.5 million miles, and has carried well over 1 million passengers. These figures alone illustrate the importance that islanders attach to this route.” To book Southampton airport parking and Southampton airport hotels click on the links.
The bad weather has been blamed for January’s poor passenger numbers at BAA’s six UK airports. Each of the airports reported a drop in passenger numbers with Aberdeen suffering a 13.6% drop when compared with January 2009. In fact it was two of the Scottish airports which fared the worst with Glasgow seeing a drop of 12.2% and Edinburgh reporting a drop of 7.4%. Although, Edinburgh Airport is the only BAA airport which has seen a positive increase in passengers numbers, +0.5%, in a rolling 12 months – February 2009 to January 2010. Of BAA’s English airports, Southampton reported a 9.7% reduction in numbers, with Stansted dipping 5.6% and Heathrow faring best of all at just a 0.5% drop. Although the snow has had an impact on passenger numbers, the drop in numbers at Glasgow and Edinburgh has also been attributed to the collapse of Flyglobespan.
Flybe is offering a lifeline to expectant mums in the later stages of pregnancy. Currently, women who are more than 34 weeks pregnant are not permitted to fly even with a medical certificate stating they are fit to fly. These rules can lead to some women having to travel and stay away from home to receive medical treatments that may not be available where they live. After much investigation, Flybe has announced that, on specific routes only, it can accommodate women at any stage of pregnancy who need to attend mainland hospitals and who hold a signed medical certificate confirming that they are fit to fly. Flybe’s approved routes are:
Women who are between 28 and 34 weeks pregnant still require a medical certificate and can travel on any route. Consultant and Honorary Senior Lecturer in Feto-Maternal Medicine at Southampton University Hospital, David Howe comments: “We are delighted that Flybe has been able to make this critical policy change. To the small number of women each year to which this is so important, this will make a huge difference at a time when they are already under considerable stress for other reasons and I am very grateful that Flybe has taken the time and trouble to consider and change this policy.” Flybe is adding extra weekend flights between Southampton and Dublin this summer. From 14 May until 29 October 2010 four flights will operate on Fridays and three per day on Sundays. Flights to Dublin are operated by 78-seat Bombardier Q400 aircraft. To book Southampton airport parking and Southampton airport hotels click on the links. Disruption is expected to flights to and from Ireland today due to industrial action by air traffic controllers in Ireland. Affected airports are Dublin and Shannon, which will see industrial action between the hours of 14:00 and 18:00, and Cork Airport where industrial action is expected to take place between the hours of 16:00 and 18:00. Ryanair has cancelled 52 flights due to the industrial action – check here for details of cancellations To check the status of your Aer Lingus flight click here For Aer Arann disruptions click here There is some disruption to flights at Southampton Airport this morning due to fog. The airport is advising passengers to contact their airlines for further information. To book Southampton airport parking and Southampton airport hotels click on the links. Southampton Airport has reopened, however, it is advising that there maybe some delays or cancellations as a result of its earlier closure. Passengers are advised to check the status of their flight with their airline – airline contact numbers can be found here To book Southampton airport parking and Southampton airport hotels click on the links. Snow is causing disruption to flights and there are several cancellations today. The below list is not comprehensive list but does offer information on some cancelled flights.
The snow is back and affecting operations at the following airports:
Passengers should contact their airline for information on the status of their flights. For concerns about traffic problems affecting the roads check here http://www.highways.gov.uk/news/breakingnews.aspx Flight update to follow. |
